Aaron Zeleske | Trinity Fellow 2011-13 | by Jack Goods

Aaron Zeleske hopes for a day when the Milwaukee River is at the center of the city’s life again.

“People didn’t understand how rivers worked,” said Zeleske, the Milwaukee River Greenway director for the River Revitalization Foundation. “There were swimming schools where people would come and swim. People didn’t use the lake. They recreated on the river.”

A native of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Zeleske has studied the city’s connection to its waterway. He’s found videos of people ice skating and cross-country skiing in the winter. When industry landed upstream, water pollution increased and visitors decided to go somewhere else.

“People turned their backs on it,” Zeleske continued, sitting in his office, an enormous window giving him a perfect view of the waterway. “For 60 years, people never really thought about it.”

As he walks the paved paths, Zeleske can easily display the progress that he and the foundation has made. He points to the hillside, which used to be sheet metal. The park right next to their offices used to feature an abandoned restaurant, a hulking concrete building in the shape of a boat. It’s all gone now, giving the condos across the street a direct view of the river.

Zeleske’s tie to the river began in 2011, when he was assigned to the Urban Ecology Center through the Trinity Fellows Program at Marquette University. The program assigns graduate students to agencies around the city to form the students into leaders in the community.

Through this assignment, Zeleske has become part of a growing group of people looking to make an impact on the Milwaukee River. Billions of dollars have been invested into the river to improve both the quality of the water and the surrounding property. At the center of his work is the Milwaukee River Greenway, consisting of 878 acres and 28 miles of trails.

He credits his Trinity assignment for helping him stumble into the passion that would become a career. Zeleske has fond memories of playing in the stream in his backyard with his twin brother growing up, but this isn’t how his imagined life’s work. “If I had never been in Trinity, I wouldn’t have been in this field,” he said. “I really lucked into a career niche that I think fits me really well. I just got lucky and had an amazing placement and was able to succeed.”

Zeleske returned to Marquette for graduate school seven years after earning his bachelor’s degree from the school in psychology. In between, he traveled halfway around the world. Following his first stint at Marquette, Zeleske joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, sending him to the Marshall Islands, a small island country in the Pacific Ocean. There he taught biology, which seems evident when he points to all the invasive species while walking along the riverfront paths. He returned to the states to teach in Chicago before deciding to go to graduate school.Zeleske’s original Trinity assignment was not the Urban Ecology Center. That assignment was not a perfect fit, which is not unusual, said Trinity director Carole Ferrara. The Urban Ecology Center seemed like a good replacement due to Zeleske’s environmental interests.

The center applied for a fellow to spearhead the planned Arboretum Project, an enormous 40-acre, land-restoration project that cost over $8 million. A meeting was called, and Zeleske faced a board of directors. He passed his test immediately.

“Aaron is kind of an understated guy,” Ferrara said. “Some people want to impress you in a way that’s very outward. Aaron is quiet person. He’s confident. He’s got a lot of strengths, but he’s not going to be talking himself up.” Zeleske exemplified his superb problem-solving abilities, she said, adding that “he very thoughtfully considered [scenarios], and gave really good answers.”

Zeleske worked primary with the construction contractor, helping to lay the groundwork for the project. It was on the job experience, right from the beginning. The high-pressure role was a good opportunity for him to prove himself and make connections.

The center was so happy with his work that they offered him a full-time position. He remained there until the completion of the Arboretum. As Zeleske looked for employment elsewhere, he realized that though he enjoyed his time at the Urban Ecology Center, he wasn’t interested in focusing solely on environmental education.

He was familiar with the River Revitalization Foundation and its director, Kimberly Gleffe, since the foundation was a partner and organized the land deal for the Arboretum.

“When they were hiring it seemed pretty natural,” Zeleske said. “I already knew a lot of the county park staff [and] the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources people. I knew the whole world.”

“We stole him away,” Gleffe said with a laugh. “When we took over the Milwaukee River Greenway Coalition, it’s essentially a plan to recommend projects throughout the (greenway) that are like the Arboretum project. It really made sense for him to shepherd addition projects like he did for the Arboretum.”

It’s a big jump in territory, as Zeleske moved from an 8-acre project to one using 800. The foundation separates the area into smaller sections, creating more focused plans and projects. One project is next to its offices and will be complete once an outdoor yoga space is installed.

When Zeleske arrived at the ecology center, most of the general plan was already in place. Now, his work starts from scratch. He and his foundation colleagues focus on writing grant proposals during the harsh winter months. A main project of his is getting the coalition’s logo on all the park signs to reinforce the idea that the greenway is one unified pathway.

Zeleske has his eye on the future. He knows how much progress the river has seen in the last 20 years. He’s excited for how it can improve in the next 20. The various organizations have progressed in a step-by-step nature, but he has eyes on more of an overall, enormous operation.

“The next big thing is to get comprehensive plans in place,” Zeleske said. “Get a vision for the next five or 10 years in place and really execute it. If it’s just piece by piece, it works – but it isn’t as impactful as it could be.”